Brand Keeps Proving Prowess on Boards

As far as the Clippers are concerned, the ball continues to fall into the right hands. Forward Elton Brand’s stranglehold on the title of the NBA’s leading offensive rebounder is nearing the end of its third season and there’s no sign of it loosening.

“When I led it with the Bulls, I used to think it was because we missed so many shots,” Brand joked after Tuesday’s practice.

Now that he’s a Clipper, he has hardly missed a beat, leading the league with 319 offensive rebounds in 66 games for an average of 4.8. Six of his team-leading 12 rebounds were on the offensive end during the Clippers’ victory Monday over the Houston Rockets.

Brand is nearing Michael Cage’s franchise record of 371, set in 1987-88. What’s more, over the last three seasons, Brand has 952 offensive rebounds, more than 100 more than his nearest challenger, Philadelphia’s Dikembe Mutombo. Brand stands 6 feet 8 and Mutombo is 7-2.

How does he do it?

“Definitely, it’s determination,” Brand said. “Definitely, it’s long arms. It’s also outwitting the other players and being where the ball is going to be. I like going after offensive boards. It doesn’t just give me an extra opportunity to shoot, but our team. Sometimes you can take the heart out of the other team with an offensive rebound.”

Brand shrugged.

“It’s just happened,” he said of leading the league for the last three seasons, “and it’s just happening.”

Point guard Jeff McInnis and reserve forward Darius Miles did not practice Tuesday because of bumps and bruises. Backup forward Quentin Richardson limped around on a sore left thigh.

The Clippers have been without forwards Corey Maggette and Lamar Odom and guard Keyon Dooling for almost a month. There’s a chance Maggette soon will be recovered from a hand injury and arthroscopic knee surgery. But Odom (wrist and ankle) and Dooling (ankle) could be sidelined for the rest of the season.

“We’re just beat up right now,” Coach Alvin Gentry said. “It’s too bad. We probably need to be at our healthiest right now, but we’re probably as beat up as we have been the whole year.”

The Clippers have held the opposition to less than 100 points in 11 consecutive games. They last gave up 100 or more in a 106-88 loss Feb. 23 against the Pacers at Indianapolis.... If Gentry’s prediction that it will take at least 45 victories to advance to the playoffs in the West is accurate, then the Clippers (35-33) must win 10 of their final 14 games. The Clippers last won 45 games in 1991-92.